As it rains profusely outside, I can’t help but wonder where the winter went? We did have a couple of days in January where the snow came and stuck around, but for the most part this winter was a confusion of short sleeves and ☂️!
I wish we kept track of the number of days we went out for a walk with Tosha. I think quite a few. I also am so excited that 6 months to the day (almost) of my injury, we finally got to go on a short hike. We went to Clancy’s favorite Fall Run! Tosha got to see the waterfalls frozen over there.
Taking in the waterfall
This weekend we go for a short trip to visit great Gamma!
The monumental 02.02.2020 date went by and I didn’t get to post….where’s the rewind back machine? 🙂
Nonetheless, it’s exciting to start looking forward to the next steps for us. After being “cleared” for low impact cardio — what is that? I am finally excited to get closer to hiking.
For all 9months of my pregnancy what I craved most was sushi! And today was a day to share this experience with Tosha.
Kudos to McKnight Kitchen for being an out of the world sushi place and extra kid friendly to boot!
not only did they have a kid changing table in an extra large bathroom, but also a little bench with little distractions and a fun swinging doorway and lots of bright windows and fun shaped booth upholstery, super friendly staff.. I mean really? It’s my favorite place so far… Will report if find others.
Hi all! I am starting to love this time of the year now, despite it being no snow, we’ve had a fair share of adventures even as I recover and wait for my next Ortho visit.
Here is the New Year Tree Version 2.0 in a new location, with a special timer that Bryce installed. Now we don’t have to remember to turn it on or off 🙂
The end of the week last week brought with it a couple of celebratory days and it was fun to spend my birthday at Yama sushi restaurant. If you know Russian, you would chuckle at the name…. as it means “hole” or “pit”. Aside feeling like I am in such a hole with my inability to do my most favorite activities: hike/bike, I felt good to be 18* again!
Birthday dinner at Yama Sushi
On the 29th we went back to the place we were a year ago. Phipps is a beautiful place to be as a family for our anniversaries!
The Brodery Room, a year later.
As the year is coming to a close, I spent a few minutes reflecting on just how many changes our little family experienced in the last 365 days!
Married: 365
Pregnant: 260
New mom figuring it out: 112
And the most amazing little girl joined us for adventures! It melts my heart to see her smile every day when she wakes up ready to explore!
Yesterday we took her to the Phipps and did the explorer position for the first time ever. She really loved seeing all the flowers and watching people and trains zoom by.
as I sit here with my daughter sleeping on my chest, I cannot imagine a more magical place to be! In the past, the end of December came with mixed feelings for me. The great dislike of the Hallmark holidays, would mix in with the anticipation of my birthday and New Year and the start of our Ski season. I guess you might call me a grump? I went to Trader Joe’s with Antonina last week and could not pass by the Grump tree. Not only did it smell lemony cyprussy, but it was just plain red and eye catching! Great for visual development for a 3 month old! As I was checking out, the cashier asked us: “who is the grump?” Before I even got a chance to roll up my eyebrows, Tosha gingerly chimed in with “eah?” i.e. who do you mean?
It was so cute!
But seriously though, having a child brings that magical holiday spirit back to life! I want to share with her the wonder if the New Year tree and Father Frost. To teach her about the US tradition of Christmas and also learn with her about Hanukah and Kwanzaa and the winter Solstice…
Where to even start?
We decided that getting a tree is a good start. Here it is:
Yes, the lightbulbs did what lightbulbs do best 😉
After putting up the tree, I told Bryce that since we don’t have any ornaments (except Tosha’s baby picture) we can spend the next few years aquiring them and slowly growing our collection. My mom donated some other decorations and already the house started to feel like there is no Grinch here 🙂 just have to find a proper spot for the grump tree.
As I write this, my husband and daughter are making sweet dream noises to my right. So much has happened in the last two months that I cannot wait for the sunrise to update here. The post would be so long if in prose form, so I will settle for a Cliff’s noted list with pictures down below (so feel free to skip the middl section for the index at the bottom). In order to spare you the need for a long scroll in the future, I promise to (myself) to be more timely in documenting going forward! (This will require a workshop on how to keep a consistent blog!) — please send your suggestions on this to worldorbits@gmail.com.
The LONG Version:
Rewind back to end of August. One day I slipped and fell off a stool at work. Didn’t think much of it except that by the time I got home from clinic (which took me two hours) I could not sit down without a serious amount of right hip pain.
Why do I mention this? Aside feeling embarrassed to be gimpy, it was a wake-up call. I know many women go through their entire pregnancy working until the day they deliver. That was my plan so that I could have the maximum amount of time in maternity leave. My crash off of that vinyl circle onto the cement floor gave me a pain in the rear end, but also the clarity to see what is most important in life. It forced me to focus more on myself (and the physical body I inhabit) and also to re-examine my priorities. I love my job and could not imagine any other career. When I stood up that afternoon, I realized that I cannot put my career ahead of my then unborn child and spending quality time with my family. My family rallied around me in full support. Within days of discovering this new in-ability (couldn’t sit, couldn’t drive, couldn’t sleep), my family drove 9 hours through the night to be with us. I’ll get back to the list form, but this paragraph could not be skipped. I owe my gratitude to my mom, dad, grandpa, my husband and Shukhrat from saving me from my delusion that I could continue without taking a few moments to prepare for becoming a mom.
My method of preparation: drew a mandala to help me visualize the birth.
After that moment, life started moving at a much faster clip. Within a week I met a new midwife team, was admitted to the hospital with an unforseen complication and told that “i must have my daughter on Sunday”. When I came to Pittsburgh for Labor Day holiday, I did not expect it to turn into an actual labor day! I blissfully thought I still had 3+ish weeks to get a car seat, a bassinet, some baby clothes and be sleeping on more than the mattress on the floor. The Universe had other plans for us. In retrospect, it couldn’t have been more perfect, but at the time, when we were driving in for an “induction at 37 weeks”, my mind battled with ideas that this might be my last day. I am sure the intense itching from ICP had something to do with my morbid thoughts. It wasn’t helpful that I hadn’t slept in days from my hip injury either.
A week from labor day, my daughter was born. I didn’t make it to induction either. She was ready to come on her own. As we waited for a birthing suite to open up, my mom and I were squatting and pacing in the waiting room. In retrospect, the burning pain in my right hip was much worse than the every 3 minute contractions I was having. i didn’t become aware of the contractions until the nurse placed me on a monitor. For the first 7 hours i battled with the ramping contractions and spasmy right hip pain while Bryce hypnotized me and my mom held my hand. It wasn’t until i was at the bottom of the shower lying on a shower head to prop up my right hip, that the midwife made a suggestion that I should probably have some pain relief. It’s not that they didn’t offer it every time they checked in on me, but I stubbornly refused pain meds because I wanted to try without an iv or other interventions. I am glad Tanya talked me into accepting an epidural. At 2 am was the first time I was able to blissfully fall asleep after WEEKS of burning hip pain! The epidural was just the right mixture of lidocaine and ropivacaine that i still had 90% sensation in my extremities and full motor. I was able to walk on place (since no one was letting me out of bed) and do sun salutations! I closed my eyes and followed what my body was telling me… And this was to dance and work through asanas to find my center. Once I centered, my daughter came out a bit faster than the midwife predicted much to her surprise. My mom and husband reminded me that when the change of shift came, the new midwife looked at the monitor and said, with the rate of your contractions you will still be pushing for 7 more hours. I looked at her and said i don’t have room here for this negativity, please leave? And then the overnight nurse proceeded to coach me through the pushing steps. After 3 pushes, she told me to stop and hold it. I could not hold and luckily, as the contractions came back, the midwife and pediatricians ran back to my room in time to catch our daughter ~10 minutes later.
The SHORTer version
9/9/19 Antonina born
9/11/19 went home to our house for the first time, my first sushi in 9 months!
Since we’ve been home, we spent 3+ weeks cleaning, unpacking and making the baby space in our bedroom.
Week 3 spent a lot of time on our balcony!
Week 4 Antonina went to her first live jazz concert and loved it! @MusicNightOnJupiter.
Week 5 attended Italian Class at Squirrel Hill branch of the Carnegie Library.
Bryce’s parents visited us after we were off the self imposed quarantine.
Week 6 a bit of a blur
W
eek 7 she went on a hike in North Park and picked edible mushrooms.
My first time breastfeeding in public, she kept me modestish.
Week 8 She went to the Phipps, the Carnegie library and her second live concert.
Week 9 started on Monday and will keep you posted!
I cannot believe it’s been, what? 4 months since our last post? what am I talking about? Actually, I can. My husband and I were busy turning from a “couple of adventurers” to a family of 3 mayhemmers!
I cannot remember a more memorable day in my life than the day I had my daughter. September 9th 2019 was a minute to minute blur that I had instructed my husband to annotate on his reMarkable. That was the day I felt reborn. In fact, having my mom, dad and husband at my side in the birth room made this the perfect birth (despite initially signing up for a home birth in Chicago!). How appropriate that my daughter was born while doing a sun salutation followed by a malasana (apologies to the nurse admonishing me from doing “stand on your bed-yoga” with my walking epidural). She came out whilst listening to my favorite Pandora curated channel (Spanish guitar) and mommy munching on nearly a kilo of watermelon and pineapple slices! (Pregnancy cravings anyone?)
Heading to Magee Hospital for my “induction”.
That day we discovered our true side kick for life, our little human has just the right taste of adventure and I am so excited to add her to this blog. [Note to self: ask husband to change blog subheader to reflect new content].
I owe a special thank you to my medschool classmate who gave me the courage to start writing {learning to write} again without even knowing it. This morning after bresstfeeding Tosha and placing her back in the bassinet and sitting and daydreaming about our next adventures, I stumbled upon the Pittsburgh Mommy Blog post about Mommy and Me classes. Although it didn’t contain the “2 month old and mommy swim class” listing, I was blown away by all the opportunities to explore with our baby as she grows up!
I am not at all a gifted writer, and certainly still using too many punctuations and mixed tenses, but as I write this blog has taken on a new meaning. My goal is to try my best to write the little stories from Antonina’s travels as we learn as a new family and explore our new home!
It’s so good to be back to Pittsburgh!
Let the adventures of the Three Rivers Goats begin!
Last Monday, after an absolutely bizarre afternoon at Oak (message me if interested), Bryce and I headed closer to home because I am on call the next two weeks. It’s been so hot here lately (heat index peaked at 106 yesterday!) so there are few places to hide from the heat.
For some reason I thought maybe we could find a cool pool on the way back. We stumbled on the recplex at Burbank Illinois. Walked into the center as all of the front desk staff were looking for something under the table. I immediately knew it was a contact lens incident, so I volunteered to help and walked the woman to the bathroom and coaxed her contact lens back downfrom the upper fornix for her.
Then we got around to asking about the pool. It turned out that in 15 minutes there is an entrance discount. We hung out for a few minutes, then went to the pool and this is how Bryce spent the afternoon:
Quarter gainer?
Bryce: Diving is very much a mind game. At some point I learned to do back and front flips, but I am afraid of jumping high on the board, slipping, and hitting my head. There was another diver at the pool who was doing very difficult and high air 1.5 flips and flips with a twist, things I very rarely see at a local pool! He complemented me on my backflip, and said he is afraid of doing them! Above is my 4th attempt at doing a half gainer, where you jump forward but do a half rotation backward to enter the water head down facing the diving board. I think I have done one before. But I kept chickening out in the middle, afraid my head would hit the board. From the foootage, looks like the proximity to the board is all in my head!
I don’t have a picture of the next part of our visit, which was truly awesome! As they announced that the pool is closing, the next announcement was “and aquazumba is starting!”. We inquired about that class and went back to the rec center where the lady who helped us previously, gave us a class pass to try it out!
Truly, THE most fun class I’ve ever been to! Michelle, the instructor was really into it and the class of probably 30 of us splashed around with pool noodles and danced the afternoon to Latin rhythms. The baby and I really loved it! I think we’ll be back for more 😉
Just realized a really important trip went totally un”documented”.
Bryce and I went home to visit Saint Petersburg after our stopover in Warsaw to visit Kate and Renia.
It was fun, but also strange to be in my home town and try to do things like a Russian.. even live in a communal flat again .. I admit the logic of getting things done takes a few days to process.
The white nights are really something one should experience at least once in a lifetime (is it weird that I miss them?) The ability to read a book without turning lights on at midnight, the fact that shops are open around the clock… The abundant pirogi???
One of the first things we did is go to our neighborhood Цех85 — a local bakery chain that makes out of this world pies. They no longer had lingonberry (на любителя наверное), but the forest berries was and even better taste. After meeting up with our parents friends, we headed out to discover that the Metro had been under construction for 11 months since we were last here! Not to despair, we stocked up on blini and Olivie and walked the 20 minutes to the Polytechnic stop. In fact, this new part of the exercise routine was great! (Lots of steps if not in a hurry).
Adult Bigwheels!
I rode down memory lane when Bryce and I discovered bike rentals in Sosnovka! 5 miles of scooting on these bikes while visiting monuments and searching for the benches my mom relaxed on after her final exams. Mind you it’s 10pm in that picture. 🙂
Peter’s Botanic garden!
Spring time in St.P is full of lilacs! We picked the week just right and we’re surrounded by olfactory celebrations around every corner. While walking around downtown, scouted the botanic garden — how could we not stop over to smell the blossoms? One of my favorite parts of being in nature!
This summer seems hotter than the hot-Tamale Ghana experience Anya had two years ago. Chicago is roasting at 89-98 degrees lately. This brings the thought, it should be cooler by the water, right?
Bryce has found these amazing “neck slugs” last year at our favorite store (REI) and we’ve pretty much never left home without them. Considering wearing to work to save for the sweatifying trip back to the car at the end of the day?!
We had a really fun July 4th (and managed to venture outside when Bryce’s parents came to visit us!
I don’t show up on camera much lately, but baby bump and I need to overcome our shyness, right?
Overall, aside hiding from the heat, we very much miss the water. Bryce and I went to and Aqua class at the gym, and although the chlorine was tough to be around, the water felt heavenly!
What’s a goat to do in the heat? For us, keep trying to get outdoors…. And maybe a trip to Pittsburgh this weekend to get away from the Midwest blaze?
